shorn

Ava is now lopsided. Oh, Jake. You'd better run.

WHAT to be....or not to be

So, you know how proud parents like to see traits in their kids, sometimes obnoxiously as infants, and project on the sunny futures of their gifted little ones. Sometimes this may be spot on, sometimes it's wishful thinking, sometimes you get info that can blessedly help you steer your cherubs away from a certain profession.

Take this last week: Spencer has always had a real thing for constructing things, figuring out how pieces and parts fit together. Some would call this being visuospatially inclined. At a school art night he put together a toothpick/gumdrop structure that garnered compliments from other stranger-parents as he carried it home. Our friend (an architect) offered to take Spencer to the architecture building at the university where he works and show him around. While we waited for them to come get Spencer I explained what an architect does, how he/she can build buildings 100 stories high without them falling over. We talked about support beams (we're remodeling) and what they do. He was so full of excitement he started to draw his own high-rise, complete with all the bells and whistles. After he came home he told us about all the different building models he saw and went straight to the Legos to build himself a mini city. A future architect? Who knows?

(support beam on the right)

This morning I kept the kids in the car while I unloaded groceries. While I was busy, Jake handed my mascara over to Ava and she went to work. Though this was her first attempt, let's just say that we now know that a makeup artist she will not be. Ain't she a beaut?

pop goes the weasel

To all of you who get a little giddy excitement and strange satisfaction at popping zits: Hold onto your hats, this should take care of you for at least six months....maybe a year. Happy Monday.

http://www.dumpalink.com/videos/Explosive_cyst-ic74.html

Take me back

I've been away for awhile, actually enjoying the sun in San Diego. A person can only take so much snow, ice, and frigid temperatures. This has been one harsh winter. We were all so happy to fly to CA and escape this winter wonderland that we even forgave SD for giving us one rainy day. That's okay, we educated ourselves with a little museum visit indoors and enjoyed the guilt-free restaurant eating that only comes on those vacation Sundays.

When you've been away from the coast for a long time and you get to visit again, you just want to stay awhile, close your eyes, and let the sand tickle your toes for a bit. (And try not to wish that you didn't live in a land-locked state. This is hard to do when every other minute your kids are asking if you can move to San Diego.)

This is what it looks like when you've been away for awhile:

You even remember the magic glow from the setting sun and what it can do to a sweet face.

We participated in the other obligatory kid entertainment activities: A visit to Sea World (Matt and I liked this), Legoland (all of the worst parts of Disneyland, i.e., the rides that don't go over 2 mph, concentrated exclusively in one lively themepark, uugh - Jake loved it), SD's Wild Animal Park (really I think people go there on the off chance that the lions will escape and hunt down the safari caravan of gawking tourists - I'll admit I was looking for a hole in the enclosure).

Then we got lucky and stumbled onto a beach where the sea lions are having babies this time of year. We all got to go down and hang around the sides of this little grotto where they beach themselves - and get chastised by a well-meaning activist who had appointed herself in charge of making sure we all knew she was "in charge" so she could remind us that we just might do something wrong by letting our eyesight rest momentarily on the sea lion mothers. She informed us that a baby sea lion had died earlier that day and that they were trying to prevent any other deaths. Lest I be labeled as one who is rooting for death to all baby sea lions, this sounded like a very unfortunate event. But, wow, I think she just wanted it to be the actual fault of one of us standing there and couldn't chill out enough to see that nobody was even venturing away from the rock edge toward the little group of sea lion mommies. I hope the do-gooder survives the stress of the sea lion birthing season. We wish her well.

On the last day we went on a whale watching excursion - which didn't find any whales, but did manage to find some cute dolphins who swam along with us for about 30 seconds. We tried to make those seconds last since we were on the boat for a total of about 3 1/2 hours. But hey, we have rain check tickets in case we want to come back. Hmmm.

Right before getting heading to the airport we toured the USS Midway which has been turned into a museum/tour. All of us liked this one too. It's so big we were there for almost two hours.

And because we could, we had dinner at In & Out Burger afterwards. I admit that they get an "A" for simple ingredients and a straightforward menu, and I liked the chocolate milkshake we got, but if I'm going to stock up on unwanted calories by eating a huge cheeseburger, there are other places I'd rather go. So, this is just a fun tradition, but I will say their fries are sick.

little men

Every mother of boys guards a little secret - a secret that goes lightyears beyond the dreary old 'snips and snails and puppy dog tails,' it is the stuff of little boys. The essence of the stuff of little boys is something sacred. There isn't a name for it [at least I've never come up with something adequate], but it can be described in a thousand different ways and through a thousand different little slices of life carved out of our day to day. You find this essence of boys in the adoring smile and the unbidden, impromptu kiss; it's there when the big brother asks if he can pick out little sister's outfit for that day (oh, but shh, he wouldn't be caught dead telling his friends at school - come on, this is special stuff); it can be found in mommy's closet because her shoes are just so fun to try on and her silky robe just feels so good; it whispers by when you see one brother reach out to steady the other brother as they wobble together through knee-deep snow in the backyard; you can get a fleeting glimpse (because time whirls so quickly by) when a little boy sweetly cradles a doll, the one he got as a gift because he wanted it, and gives it a love, the kind mommy gives him; it's the little boy that mommies everywhere get to see before the advancing years of growing up have them in their grasp and carry them steadily way. And suddenly, this essence of little boy, so tender, so innocent, so soft and full of love and whispers and snuggles and giggles gets snuffed out. Now, this doesn't happen immediately; it doesn't always disappear forever. Sometimes it even resurfaces, but it doesn't come back with the full strength that it once had. The moms who are the guardians of this secret something are the ones who can provide a path, a winding way for this essence of the tender little boy to creep out and allow the full measure of the man, who is her son, to be realized and to bless the lives of his future family.

Last night I called to wish my friend, the wife of a deployed Air Force Captain serving in Iraq, a happy Valentine's Day. She, too, is a mother of boys and our conversation really got me thinking about the absolutely genuine core of sweetness that is at the center of a little boy who's working so hard at this business of growing up. She told me about the gifts that her 11- and 8-year-old boys got her. While on an impromptu night-before-Valentine's-Day trip to Wal-Mart her sons explained that they wanted to leave her and go look in a different section of the store for a bit. She said okay and they met afterward and went to the check-out lines. Her oldest then explained that he had something to buy and that her line was too crowded. So the boys went to the next line over. On Valentine's Day, the next day, they presented her with their gifts. The 8-yr-old had chosen a daffodil plant - he had watched his mother and knew how she loves flowers - and bought it with his own money. His 11-yr-old brother had tried to think about what his mom would want and chose a crystal box with a rose carved on it. One thing is certain: my friend is another mother who guards this secret about boys. They are sweet, and soft with a true capacity for pure love, a sacred tenderness that needs defending.

After hearing her tell this story I thought about my friend's little boys, how they must have planned and thought about their mom and what she would want for Valentine's Day, maybe even fretted about how they were going to be able to get themselves to the store without divulging their secret plans. With Daddy not there, I'm guessing that they had wanted to do their part to fill in what was missing on this special day when we focus on those we love. And naturally, their thoughts were on their mommy. Their selected gifts were dripping with little boy sweetness, in the flowers that will brighten their home and their Mommy's heart and in a little crystal box that is ironically something she probably never would have chosen for herself but is now a treasure because it came from the sweet heart of her boy...who will so soon be a man. And my guess is that these boys will attain that full measure of a man because they have a mom and dad who have paved the path and shown them the way and loved them enough to let them just be little boys while cherishing every sweet minute.

So here's to our little boys.

Ava Jane, age 2

Snippets from a photoshoot of our sweet Ava on her second birthday. The posing was accomplished on her own. Words can't express how much we love this little girl. From the moment the ultrasound revealed it was she who would be arriving she has held a special place. And though we love our three boys beyond words as well, even they will admit that she is unabashedly adored by all of us. She brightens our lives.

Things of note about Ava and her two years of life thus far:

*Though only 12 days early, she only weighed 5 lbs 6 oz.

*She now tops the charts at 23 lbs as of yesterday.

*She adores Carebears: the movie, the stuffed bears, all of it, and calls them 'bears'.

*She was known as Reese Janelle for the first two months of her life (we still love the name, and that's another story), so she has what they call an amended birth certificate and will always have two sets of names on record

*She didn't learn to walk until she was 22 months old.

*She scooted around on her bum for a full year of her life and has holes in the backsides of her old pants to prove it. She resembled a chimpanzee and was a bit of a delightful freakshow when in public.

*She is obsessed with shoes - one of the girl clubs she has gained entry to recently. Her favorites are the knee-high ladybug rainboots. Mommy is happy.

*She talks constantly and currently loves the words pretty, brothers, and please (she says please with her head cocked to one side and her hands holding her face under her chin). This gets her a lot.

*She still naps for two hours each day. [sigh of relief]

*She loves playdough.

*At 4 mos old we thought she might have hydrocephalus. No. She had a really huge head. She is now back within normal limits like they promised. We are glad.

*She is in love with her older brothers. (they are her servants)

*She doesn't like food. (She won't tell her secret.) Unless it's made with 100% high fructose corn syrup or it's spicy.

*Mommy loves it when Ava whispers baby angel words in her ear.

*Daddy loves it when Ava sits in his lap, holds his face, and talks to him.

*When we tell her to close her eyes because it's time to go to bed, she wrinkles up her nose with the effort of squeezing her eyes shut.

*When she walks away from someone she waves, says "bye!", and blows a kiss - no matter where she is or where she's going....out the door or just to another room.

* She'll play on the floor of the shower until the water gets cold if we let her, talking and singing to herself.

*She is having banana fosters torte for her birthday cake - because she is 2 and we get to decide. She'll have a colorful "2" candle in the middle, so that should be good.

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

festivities over....here's the cupcake gallery

cookie dough black and white cupcake with vanilla cream filling

Aside from being late and setting up while also starting the presentation, the event was a success mainly because if you can't have fun creating and eating cupcakes then something is terribly wrong. A cupcake bar can bring out the kid in all of us. The most terrifying combination I saw this morning was a lemon-curd-filled cookie dough black and white cupcake. Let's hope its creator enjoyed it.



white almond cupcake with chocolate pudding cream & ganache drizzle / butter cupcake with lemon and sour cream filling


choc with choc cream & black/white cookie dough with vanilla cream / butter cupcake with purple buttercream and sprinkles


Jake (4) is asking for a cupcake bar for his birthday. They're awesome!!! Thanks for taking a look at the pictures, it was loads of fun creating them. With all that said, I am now on a cupcake hiatus. I am seriously craving salad. I think I'm onto something. The cupcake-salad diet...it might work! (Check out the next post down for a few more pics that I couldn't fit here.)


butter cupcake with vanilla buttercream and marshmallow fondant decoration

yes, there's more

white almond with raspberry whipped cream / butter cupcake with sour cream filling (like cheesecake) and cherries - check out the accidental little heart....awesome!

Spencer (7) went straight for this one / vanilla buttercream with those pretty (but nasty) silver balls




mmmmm, vanilla pudding cream / see why a kid (or anyone) would have fun at a cupcake bar?

in which she cleanses the palate

After I recovered from my sugar hang-over due to many and varied cupcake testing episodes this last week [the peanut-butter-cream filled chocolate ones with ganache frosting just about killed me with guilty pleasure - recipes forthcoming to those who want them when all is said and done] I want to take a moment to introduce a second brand spanking new blog I just started yesterday...

It is called simply de.lite.ful, named after a cookbook that I am writing with my mom. After you've had your fill of cupcakes this Valentine's it might be time to turn your attention to the healthier side of things for, mmmm, maybe a day or two, hee hee. The blog will provide recipes that are healthy and taste great. The book, due out later this year, will do the same and also briefly tell the story of my mom's journey to a healthy lifestyle after finding out that she had incredibly high cholesterol. The book will be mostly recipes and will give helpful information about how to prepare healthy food that you can actually enjoy eating, either all the time, like my mom, i.e., medically necessary, or just now and then, like me when I need to purge myself of holiday gluttony, i.e., trying to be smart and responsible. I figure most of us fit into one of the two categories, no?

We've had so many requests for the book thus far, that we thought a blog would be useful and fun until the book is actually here. At this point, we plan to post weekly with something delish to offer and hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Suggestions, feedback, and comments are welcome since we want to make this as geared toward others' needs and wants as we can while accomplishing a formal roadmap, if you will, of how my mom has created a cuisine that even her grandkids will eat and enjoy! She serves her recipes at get togethers and large functions, all to rave reviews.

So, with that said I will forward you on to the site at www.simplydeliteful.blogspot.com. We would be tickled pink if you thought enough of the idea to spread the word near and far. Thanks for reading!

Cute as a Cupcake

I'm in charge of doing a cupcake class for Relief Society (church women's group) in two weeks. While I thought I knew how to make a cupcake, the cupcake craze has launched these buttery little gems to a new level, and I'm overwhelmed with all of the amazing possibilities out there!

So, this is where you come in.....

If anyone out there has a cupcake recipe to die for or a great idea, simple or complex, I'd love to hear about it! I am going to cover decorating and filling the cupcakes also, so any secret concoctions or techniques will be enthusiastically welcomed. (You can email me at jangle.boo@gmail.com) Oh, and if you'd like the recipes I use in my presentation, let me know.

I'll admit, it's kind of fun immersing myself in this devilish and diet-wrecking endeavor, all in the name of culinary art. That's what I'm telling myself it is. The mean little bathroom scale will be lonely for a couple weeks because I have more important work to do! For example, I spent this afternoon perfecting my frosting technique, a la the famous Magnolia Bakery cupcake. (I was going to include a video of the Magnolia frosting technique, but I haven't learned how to put it in the post, so you can click here instead). Really, it's just frosting on a cupcake, but with a little twist it's a bit more than just slathering it all over the top - and slathering is the only method I've known about until this little project. Now, I've found there are piping bags and decorator's tips and a whole slosh of new ideas. And most of them make the whole process easier and more slick to boot. Now there's something to sing about.

So, here's a shout out to cupcakes. Think rich chocolate, think butter yellow, think lemon cream cheese, think fluffy buttercream and sprinkles, think....think....think. Isn't it fun? A little indulgent? Who cares! Think peanut butter-filled with thick chocolate ganache piped on top. Think raspberries, whipped cream, and dust clouds of powdered sugar. And may you have sweet dreams!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Notice to all 4- and 2-year olds, the following are not household cleaning products:

Nevertheless, while I folded laundry downstairs, my sweet helpers got busy with their own cleaning projects, obviously unattended. First, I rescued Ava after she slipped in the toilet water she'd sloshed across the bathroom floor while getting her paper towel wet for who knows what cleaning job.

Then I came upstairs and opened my pantry door only to find that someone (Jake had no choice but to own up to it) had sprayed a pleasingly thick layer of Pam on most of my pantry door which has 15 of those annoyingly-difficult-to-clean window panes. As I got him set up to clean the mess, he proceeded to bathe the kitchen floor in a layer of Windex in the process of cleaning the door. Ahhhh!

Shame on me for doing laundry!

Well, I wandered into the living room where I found a very large and lovely smear of vanilla yogurt across a seat cushion. You see, since yesterday, Jake has been roped in by the Bounty quicker-picker-upper ad line, and since he discovered that we actually had Bounty paper towels, he has entertained himself by washing the couch with wet paper towels. I showed him where the dirty spots were and was actually glad for the help. Little did I know that Ava was watching and wanted in on the fun. I think she just has it in for this couch. No, Love, vanilla yogurt does not a clean couch make. But I tell ya, it's doing a lot for helping Mommy feel a little cuckoo or like someone must be hiding in the closet with a video cam.

And all I had been wanting to do was get things settled around the house and head off to get some stuff at Costco! But wow, there was just no stopping today's freight train once it got going. And nope, haven't made it to Costco yet!

The F.T. Awards (Frozen Tongue)

Matt and I were the silent winners in this one, and we won't be uttering a peep! But if you must ask, what the boys don't know certainly helps us. Award stickers and F.T.s were handed out to each participant for a record 62 minutes in the great freezing outdoors. [Awards were for the Klondike Derby.] Temperature was only partly to blame (though it was getting colder very quickly), squishing and fighting accounted for the rest...and probably the most.

So, Sibling Squabbles be thanked - Really, I must give you mention when it's your due, seeing as I rather detest you most of the time. Today, however, I'll take you all the way to the bank!